Refrigerator cabinet construction



Oct. 31, 1961 J. B. HORVAY REFRIGERATOR CABINET CONSTRUCTION Filed NOV. 9, 1959 INVENTOR HO RVAY JULIUS 1 I 1/ ll H I S ATTORNEY 3,006,158 REFRIGERATOR CABINET CONSTRUCTION Julius B. Horvay, Louisville, Ky., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed Nov. 9, 1959, Ser. No. 851,634 3 Claims. (Cl. 62-273) The present invention relates to refrigerator cabinets and is more particularly concerned with a household refrigerator cabinet including an improved freezer compartment construction.

The prevention of moisture accumulation within the insulated walls of a refrigerator cabinet constitutes one of the major problems in the design and insulation of such products, particularly in the case of cabinets including a freezer compartment. Because the liner defining such a compartment is maintained at temperatures substantially below freezing during normal operation of the refrigerator, any moisture present collects on the outer surfaces of the liner or in the adjacent insulation in the form of ice or frost. As the various fibrous insulating materials, such as glass wool, normally used as heat insulating material in the space between the outer cabinet housing or shell and the inner liner of a household refrigerator are permeable to moisture, the insulating effect of such moisture permeable materials may be substantially impaired if the ice and frost forming on the exterior of the frozen food compartment liner is permitted to build out to a substantial extent into the insulation surrounding that compartment. In addition when the freezer compartment is warmed to defrosting temperatures this frost accumulating on the outer surfaces of the liner melts and unless the resultant defrost water is immediately removed, it will pass into the moisture permeable insulation adjacent the compartment and impair its heat insulating value.

The percent invention has as its principal object the provision of an improved freezer compartment construction designed to assure removal of this defrost water during defrosting of the freezer compartment.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved freezer compartment construction for a household refrigerator by means of which the frost collecting on the colder exterior surfaces or" the freezer compartment is returned to the compartment in the form of defrost water each complete defrost operation of the refrigerator.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds and the features of novelty which characterize the invention will be pointed out with particularity in theclairns annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided an improved freezer compartment construction for a household refrigerator comprising a liner designed to be mounted in spaced, insulated relationship with the outer Shell of the refrigerator cabinet. The improved liner construction, forming a freezer compartment having an access opening at the front thereof, comprises a bottom wall having sloping edge portions and side and rear walls joined to the bottom wall inwardly from the peripheral edges thereof. The side and rear walls and the projecttending around three sides of the liner and on the outer surface of the liner for receiving moisture draining from these surfaces during defrosting of the compartment. In order to dispose of this moisture or defrost water, the liner side and rear walls also include a plurality of openings adjacent the bottom edges thereof for permitting the flow of the defrost water from the trough into the liner or more specifically onto the bottom wall of the liner from which it is. removed by suitable drain means. In a preferred formcfthe invention, the lower portion of 'ingedge portions of the bottom wall form a trough exsubstantially below freezing.

I 3,,l58 Patented Oct. 31, 19151v the rear wall of the freezer liner is inclined and at least part of the freezer evaporator is disposed adjacent this sloping portion of the rear wall. A batlle, preferably composed of heat insulating material, is arranged behind the inclined or sloping rear wall portion and maintains the adjacent fibrous insulating material in spaced relationship with this coldest portion of the freezer compartment and also serves to direct any defrost water dripping from the liner rear wall into the trough.

For a better understanding of the invention reference may be had to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of a portion of a refrigerator cabinet embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a portion of the freezer compartment taken along line 22 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the freezer compartment liner taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawing, there is shown a preferred embodiment of the freezer liner construction of the present invention forming part of a refrigerator cabinet including an outer shell 1 and an inner liner 2 forming a fresh food storage compartment 3 spaced from the outer shell 1. An inner liner 4 disposed below the fresh food compartment 3 and in spaced relationship therewith and with the outer shell 1 forms a freezer compartment 5. The spaces between the outer shell and the inner liner and the space between the two inner liners are filled with suitable heat insulating material 6. Except for the access openings at the front of the compartments 3 and 5, this heat insulating material 6 completely surrounds each of the compartments or liners forinsulating the compartments from one another and from the outer shell 1. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the access opening to the upper or fresh food compartment 3 is closed by a door 9 while the closure member to the access opening to the freezer compartment 5 is in the form of a drawer front 10 forming part of a drawer structure including a storage basket or pan 12 shown in phantom lines.

The fresh food storage compartment 3 is maintained at above-freezing storage temperatures by means of an evaporator (not shown) while the freezer compartment 5 is maintained at below freezing temperatures by an evaporator 14 extending along the rear wall 15 and the During operation of the refrigerating system, the liners 2 and 4 are cooled to temperatures substantially below ambient, the liner 4 normally operating at temperatures Because moisture tends to nngrate to the coldest available surface, any moisture present in the insulation 6 ultimately collects on the colder outer surfaces of the freezer compartment. Since the outer surface of the freezer compartment adjacent the freezer evaporator 14 is the coldest point, most of the moisture eventually collects on the rear wall 15 and the adjacent insulation. The moisture collecting on this area as well as the remaining exterior surfaces of the freezer compartment walls is in the form of frost or ice and unless periodically removed will tend to build up into the insulation and materially decrease the insulating value thereof. However, the removal of this accumulated ice and frost requires the melting thereof and unless some means are provided for disposing of the resultant defrost water, it will permeate the adjacent insulation material and alsov impair the heat insulating value thereof.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an improved freezer compartment construction particularly designed to dispose of the defrost water formed during the melting of frost and ice collected on the exterior surfaces of the rear wall 15 and the side walls 19 of the compartment. To this end, the liner 4 comprises a substantially rectangular dished bottom wall 16 including outwardly and upwardly extending edge portions 21 along the rear and side edges thereof. The lower edges of the rear Wall 15 and the side walls 19 of the liner are secured as by means of spot welds 22 to the bottom wall 16 inwardly from the extending edge portions 21 so that the extending edge portions 21 form with the side and rear walls of the liner a trough 23 extending about the lower portions of the liner side and rear walls on the insulation side of the liner.

Arranged within the insulated space adjacent the lower and sloping portion 24 of the rear wall is a heat insulating baffle 25, preferably composed of a plastic material or other suitable heat insulating sheet material. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, this baffle 25 is maintained in spaced relationship with the sloping wall portion 24 by means of projections or buttons 26 integral with the baffle while the side edges 29 of the battle 25 extend slightly beyond the side walls 19 of the liner and include flanges 38 extending around the adjacent liner corners. The projections 26 form suitable means for connecting the bafile to the liner wall 14 by means of suitable screws or the like (not shown).

In addition to forming an insulated air space 32 between the insulation 6 and the coldest portions of the liner rear wall adjacent the evaporator 14, the baffle 25 primarily serves to collect moisture and defrost water flowing downwardly through the insulation adjacent the exterior surface of the wall 15 during defrosting of the compartment 5. By mounting the baffle 25 on the liner 4- with the lower edge of the baffie extending into the trough 23, this moisture and defrost water flows from the baffle into the trough along with any defrost water collected by the trough from the side walls 19 of the liner 4.

in order to dispose of the condensate and defrost water caught by the bafile and the trough 23 there are provided a plurality of openings 33 adjacent the bottom edges of the liner rear walls 15 and side walls 19 providing communication between the trough and the corn partrnent 5. These openings 33 permit the defrost Water collecting in the trough 23 to flow into the interior of the compartment and onto the bottom wall 16 from which such moisture is disposed off through a drain tube 34 into the pan 35 positioned in the machinery compartment 17.

From the above description it will be seen that there has been provided an improved freezer compartment construction adapted to dispose of accumulated insulation moisture during each defrost operation of the refrigerator. The trough 23 extending around the three insulated sides of the compartment ,5 is positioned to collect moisture flowing down the side and rear walls of the liner while the baffle 25 arranged on the opposite side of the sloping rear wall portion 24 from the evaporator 14 and held in spaced relationship with that wall portion collects the defrost water formed in this area and discharges it into the trough 23. Since the rear wall 15 of the liner is normally the coldest portion of the cabinet walls due to the presence of the freezer evaporator on the opposite side of the wall 14, much of the moisture present in the adjacent or more remote portions of the insulation 6 will migrate into space 32 during normal operation of the refrigerator and deposit on the outer surfaces of the rear Wall 15 in the form of frost or ice. Thus the bafile 25 spaced from the freezer liner provides a focal point for collecting and disposing of moisture from all parts of the insulation.

While there has been shown and described a specific embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that 75,

the invention is not limited thereto and it is intended by the appended claims to cover all modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A refrigerator cabinet comprising an outer shell, an inner liner spaced from said shell and including rear and side walls and defining a freezer compartment having an access opening at the front thereof, an evaporator in said compartment adjacent and parallel to one of said liner walls, insulation in the Spaces between said liner and said shell and means for collecting defrost water formed on the outer surfaces of said liner during defrosting of said compartment and evaporator and directing the collected defrost water into said compartment comprising means extending outwardly and upwardly from the outer surface of the rear and side walls of said liner adjacent the bottom portions of said walls to form with said walls a trough for receiving defrost water draining from the outer surfaces of said walls, and a baffle composed of heat insulating material disposed above said trough and in spaced relation with the liner wall adjacent said evaporator, said baffle including a lower edge portion extending into said trough, and a plurality of openings in said walls for permitting the flow of said water from said trough into said liner.

2. A refrigerator cabinet comprising an outer shell, an inner liner spaced from said shell and including rear and side walls and defining a freezer compartment having an access opening at the front thereof, said rear wall including a sloping bottom portion, an evaporator in said compartment adjacent and parallel to said bottom portion, insulation in the spaces between said liner and said shell and means for collecting defrost water formed on the outer surfaces of said liner during defrosting of said compartment and evaporator and directing the collected defrost water into said compartment comprising means extending outwardly and upwardly from the outer surface of the rear and side walls of said liner adjacent the bottom portions of said walls to form with said walls a trough for receiving defrost water fromthe outer surfaces of said walls, and a baffie composed of heat insulating material disposed above said trough and in spaced relation with said sloping bottom portion of said rear wall, said bafile including a lower edge portion extending into said trough, and a plurality of openings in said walls for permitting the flow of said water from said trough into said liner.

3. A refrigerator cabinet comprising an outer shell, an inner liner spaced from said shell and forming a freezer compartment having an access opening at the front thereof, said liner comprising a rectangular, dished bottom wall and side and rear walls joined to said bottom wall inwardly from the peripheral edges of said bottom wall to form with the edge portions of said bottom wall a trough extending around the outer surfaces of said liner for collecting defrost water draining from the outer surfaces of said rear and side walls during defrosting of said compartment, said side and rear walls including a plurality of openings adjacent the bottom edges thereof for permitting the flow of the collected defrost water into said liner, an evaporator in said compartment adjacent and parallel to one of said side and rear walls and a bafile composed of sheet insulating material disposed outside said liner and in spaced relation with said one of said walls, said baffle having a lower edge portion extending into said trough.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,757,391 Ryder May 6, 1930 2,084,883 Atchison June 22, 1937 2,292,365 De More Aug. 11, 1942 2,617,268 Ashby Nov. 11, 1952 2,761,29Q Philipp Sept. 4, 1956 

